The Boeing Company

Dennis Yoichi Nakasone

Gary E Lemke

Jason D Flathom

Miguel A Estevez

Elvis D Silva

Christopher P Volk

Stanley Canter

Christopher M Cosner

Gregory S Becker

Jane R Felland

Shanshin Chen

Erin M Hammons

David P Freidhoff

A spacecraft system includes a plurality of spacecraft in a stack. The stack has one or more layers, each layer includes at least two spacecraft, and each spacecraft is releasably coupled to one or more adjacent spacecraft in the stack. The spacecraft system also includes a controller configured to, for each layer, (i) cause the layer to release from the stack, and (ii) after the layer releases from the stack, cause the at least two spacecraft in the layer to release from each other.

Systems and methods for deploying a spacecraft arrangement

Systems and methods for deploying spacecraft

A dual stage vehicle attitude control system includes a first attitude control module having at least two momentum wheels arranged to provide zero momentum vehicle attitude control, each momentum wheel comprises a limited travel two axis gimbal that pivots the momentum wheel along two of the three axes of the vehicle, a second attitude control module having reaction wheels arranged in a pyramid configuration to provide vehicle attitude control along at least one control axis that is common with a control axis of the at least two momentum wheels, and a controller connected to the first attitude control module and the second attitude control module, the controller being configured to coordinate actuation of the first attitude control module and the second attitude control module to rotate the vehicle in at least one of three axes of a vehicle.

System and method for vehicle attitude control

A system, method, and apparatus are disclosed for agile dedicated spacecrafts for spinning microwave imagers and sounders. In one or more embodiments, the system, method, and apparatus involve an agile, zero net-momentum, spinning space vehicle, which includes a body and an instrument package. In one or more embodiments, the instrument package is mounted directly onto the body such that the space vehicle can point the instrument package not only along the space vehicle's orbital velocity vector, but in any direction within the space vehicle's field of regard. The space vehicle's spin axis is aligned with the instrument package's scan axis. The space vehicle experiences zero net-momentum on orbit by including a counter-rotating momentum storage device. In one or more embodiments, the instrument package is a scanning microwave imaging/sounding instrument, which is utilized as an Earth climate and weather sensor.

Agile dedicated spacecraft for spinning microwave imagers and sounders

A method and apparatus for deploying a fixed and canted solar array of a satellite. The solar array is rotated in a first plane and about a first axis from a stowed position to a first position, rotated about a second axis orthogonal to the first axis from the first position to a deployed position determined by a deployment orbit of the satellite, and locked in the deployed position to prevent further motion of the solar array relative to a satellite body for the operational life of the satellite.

Canted solar array and method for using same

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Redondo Beach, CA, United States of America

Dennis Yoichi Nakasone